THERENAffiSANCEE 1400-1600 '---------------------------- / K£1{ELEMENJTS FORMS -Mass -Motet -Hymn RHYTHM I - Introduction of meter -Syncopation used heavily HARMONY - No complete cadences used - Harmony came from melody - Mostly perfect octaves, perfect fifths and perfect fourths -Modal - Harmony introduced during the era TEXTURE -Linear - Either polyphonic or homophonic SOUND -Women added to songs - Instruments added for accompaniment MELODY - Lots of notes used - Used imitation including transposition, canon, augmentation, diminution, retrograde and inversion COMPOSERS Byrd, Palestrina, Gesualdo, Garielli, Desprez, Dowland, Gibbons www.thesingingteapot.com.au He was born in 1564 and died in 1619. He was born into a noble Neapolitan and eventually became Prince ofVenosa. He wrote both secular and sacred music. In 1590, he murdered his guilty wife and her lover. He published six volumes of madrigals and two books of motets. A characteristic of his music is the use of extremely chromatic harmony The motet originated in the 13th century. The name comes from either the Latinized version of the French mot which means "word" or "verbal utterance" or the Latin motus "movement'' The term Motet is given to a number of varied choral compositions. It originally used words which were of a religious nature and were in Latin. It would have a tenor voice as its foundation with the other parts often singing different, and sometimes, unrelated tunes over it. They would also use different words. Over time it began to use French Secular texts. A motet generally has between 4 and 6 voices. Carlo Gesualdo 1564---1619 Dl'!fLLI :MADRIOALI A CINQVE VOCI DEL li'lllllf<:Ul'll IU Vl!!liO!iA A.f.lfftO i!liSFF'O., lsorhythms were developed and introduced. An isorhythm is a short repeating rhythm in one of more voices. During the Renaissance era, all the parts used the same text. Cover from one of Gesua/da's books of Madrigals www.thesingingteapot.corn.au He was born in England in 1539 and died in 1623_ William Byrd is considered to be one of England's greatest Renaissance composers. His keyboard works are considered to mark the beginning of the Baroque organ and harpsichord style. Byrd wrote a great deal of sacred music including settings of the Mass for 3, 4 or 5 voices. He also wrote a number of secular works for voice and used a number of different instruments as accompaniments. He was the organist and member of the private religious establishment, the Chapel Royal during the reign of the protestant queen, Queen Elizabeth L He remained a devout Roman Catholic despite this. During the Renaissance era, vocal music was more important than instrumental music. Music was written by composers using techniques to enhance the meaning of the text Word painting was a technique used to do this_ William Byrd 1539-1623 It is a musical representation of poetic images. For example, the words rising to heaven might be set to a rising melodic line and the act of running might be heard with a series of rapid notes_ In Renaissance music, emotion was usually expressed in a moderate, balanced way, with no extreme contrasts of dynamics, tone colour, or rhythm_ www.thesingingteapot.com.au Example of written music from the Renaissance era. He was born in Palestrina, Italy in c.l525 and died in Rome, Italy in 1594. He was primarily a composer of sacred music. He did write some secular madrigals later in his life but was 'embarrassed' by them. His music has been recognised as providing clarity and balance. The way he combined the various high and low voices allowed him to create various tone colours. His sacred music is often considered to be "perfect" sacred music. Renaissance composers would use a great deal of polyphony in their music. Polyphonic music is music with parts for several independent voices or instruments. A key device that they used to help create the texture found in their music was imitation. Imitation is where one voice introduces a musical idea and then another voice imitates, or copies, this idea. Giovanni Pierluigi Da Palestrin c.l525-1594 Pope Marcellus Mass (1562-1563) For example, • This mass is considered Palestrina's most famous. to be It was long thought that it convince the Council of Trent that polyphonic masses should be kept in Catholic ;# ... l\ • r:J.J- -.tJ .. • desire for clear projection of sacred text. • extract from Thomas Tallis: Anthem, Heare the voyce and prayer of thy servants. www.thesingingteapot.com.au The mass is written for an a cappella choir of 6 voice parts: soprano, alto, two tenors and two basses. INSTRUMENTS OF THE RENAISSANCE,, -cji0zt<:S¢:ill!§It i'!/0J!?-;!;-ill!L"'S{,,"(f0.0!tii;;'Pi'S/YJ'IXA'GiiP· -:·- 'J:,O.Y Shawm An ancestor of the oboe, the shawm was a double reed instrument. It had a very brash, reedy sound and finger holes like a recorder. Recorder A wooden instrument with finger holes, the recorder has a conical bore and is gently tapered towards the end. The cornett was a curved instrument with finger holes like a recorder, made of wood or ivory. It used a mouthpiece similar to those used on present day brass instruments and had a brash trumpet-like sound. Crumhorn A double reed instrument which had a cap over the reed, the crumhorn had a soft tone produced by the player blowing into the cap. It was shaped a little like a walking stick and had finger holes similar to the recorder. Sackbut The sackbut was an early type of trombone. It had a smaller bell than the modern trombone and as a result it had quite a round and mellow tone. www.thesingingteapot.com.au Trumpet The renaissance trumpet was a similar shape to the modern trumpet It did not have any valves and different notes were produced by changing the lip pressure on the mouthpiece. Viol The Viol was the most important string instrument family of the Renaissance period. The instruments had six strings over a fretted fingerboard and a flat back with sloping shoulders. They were played with a bow. The smaller instruments were played upright on the player's knees. The larger ones were played upright between the player's knees, a little like the modern cello. Lute The lute usually had 12 strings tuned in pairs over a fretted fingerboard like a mn.rl<>•rn guitar. The neck was bent back almost right angles to the fret board and the body had a pear shaped sound box. Harpsichord The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument where the strings are plucked by a metal quill, It generally has two rows of keys. Virginal The virginal was played in a similar way to a harpsichord, but the strings ran parallel to the keyboard. This allowed the instrument to be smaller and to fit into the rooms of the period. www.thesingingteapot.com.au